


You Have Me

by orphan_account



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jake Peralta Loves Amy Santiago, Jake x Amy - Freeform, Medical innacuracy, amy santiago - Freeform, jake peralta - Freeform, jake peralta has a secret, jakes secret kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:47:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26243659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Jake Peralta’s secret daughter gets sick, he doesn’t know how long he can go without help from the precinct. Especially now that things are getting complicated with Amy.
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	1. Distractions

jake was exhausted. it had been years, literally years since Bea was entrusted into Jake's care, and yet he was still tired enough to drop asleep, had it not been for the coffee he had inhaled a couple of minutes ago. he absent-mindedly flipped through the case file on his desk, just glazing over the general info. a string of small robberies, scattered throughout his precinct and the neighboring 98. it was a boring case, one that took days and days to solve, so he decided to focus on something else. he walked over to rosa’s desk.

“hey, Diaz,” he said, plopping himself down in the chair meant for perps.

rosa glanced up, barely acknowledging his presence.

“listen” jake continued, “do you have any cases open you need a second opinion on?”

“jake, it isn’t my job to solve your boredom.” rosa retorted.

jake sighed, because she didn’t know that jake wasn’t bored, he was trying to distract himself from what was happening right now with his daughter. he couldn’t bear to think of her alone in the hospital right now, so tiny and alone. He thought about how alone she must feel, how alone he felt when he had been left at the hospital by his dad that time he dislocated his elbow playing baseball. The stark white walls and the shiny surfaces must be so intimidating to her.

“jake.” Rosas stern voice said, snapping jake out of his trance. “I can't get work done with you here.”

jake stood up quickly and headed back to his desk. the rest of his squad couldn’t help but notice him tapping his pen on his desk and looking at his phone every couple seconds like he was expecting a call.

“Peralta, may I see you in my office please?” the captain said.

jake nodded and stood up, making sure to take his phone with him.

captain holt did not waste time getting to the point. “what is going on with you Peralta? you've barely touched your new case file, and you're quite nervous. do you need to take a day off?”

“no, no, I'm totally fine,” Jake said quickly.

“well, then you might want to be productive. that’s what we’re paying you for. dismissed.” captain holt immediately turned back to his work, writing vigorously on his paper.

jake needed some way to distract himself from ava. so, he decided a prank was the best way to do it. he was halfway through wrangling algernon into terry’s yogurt container in the break room, when he heard his funky cold medina ringtone at his desk. abandoning the yogurt container and his rat, he sprinted over to his desk and picked up the phone on the second ring.

“is this mr. peralta?” a pleasant female voice said.

“yes, this is him.” jake said. his serious voice alerted the rest of the precinct that something was up.

“we have the results of ava peralta’s scans.”

the whole precinct saw jake drop his phone.


	2. icecream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> amy and gina confront jake about the icecream store incident. He doesn't know how long he can keep this up before someone finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm going to post a new chapter tomorrow with more peraltigo content. Please stay tuned, I'll be posting tomorrow night. Leave Kudos if you liked it and leave me suggestions in the comments! :)

the whole precinct saw jake drop his phone. nobody knew what it meant, but they all knew it had something to do with his inability to work that day. he rushed out of the precinct,

mumbling some excuse about a family emergency. he was driving before he knew it, and then within 15 minutes he was at the hospital.

jake walked toward the reception desk and hurriedly asked where he could pick up his daughter. as soon as he saw ava, he scooped her up.

“hi honey!” he said, sitting down in one of the chairs lining the wall.

“hi dada” ava babbled, playing with jakes badge.

“are you okay? do you want to go home?” jake asked

“no! i want ice-cream!” ava said definitively, as if it was a given.

“okay then, ice-cream it is!” jake chuckled.

“but first let me talk to the doctor, okay?” he walked over to the doctor watching in the far corner patiently. he was given several informational pamphlets and a date for ava’s surgery. he realized he couldn’t work that day, and made a mental note to tell the captain tomorrow. his daughter had a failing kidney, and he knew he had to be there for her. as he left the hospital with ava, he told her what was going to happen next thursday. he and ava would go to the hospital and stay overnight. then, the next afternoon, ava would go into surgery. the procedure was supposed to take about five hours, so jake would take a half day and work during ava’s surgery. he wanted to take to day off, but he needed the money, especially if he was going to pay off his daughter’s medical bills.

ava wanted to go to the ice cream store only one block from the precinct. jake agreed, but only because everyone would still be at work. jake and ava ate ice-cream and went home together, while amy and gina watched from a booth in the corner.

the next day as jake walked in the door dejectedly, he thought about how much he wished he was home with ava. he sighed, and amy and gina shared a look. after they saw jake and a little girl in the ice-cream store, they had discussed what to do. asking him seemed to be the best solution, so they agreed to do it during lunch.

when lunch rolled around, gina nodded at amy and the both stood up and walked to jake’s desk.

“hey jake” said amy nervously.

“move.” said gina, shoving amy out of the way. “me and amy were at the ice-cream store yesterday and we saw you with a kid.”

jake visibly froze, his eyes widening and his posture rigid. Amy noted this.

“and we were just wondering who it was, because we didn’t know why you would leave the precinct early to take a kid to the ice-cream store.”

“jeez guys, i didn’t know i was under investigation! Sophia is my friend’s daughter, i babysit for her sometimes because she’s a single mom.” the lie was seamless, but jake looked like a deer caught in headlights, and amy instantly knew he was lying. however, the lie seemed sufficient for gina, so they walked away together.

amy couldn’t leave the matter alone, so when peralta stood up and walked to the evidence locker, amy followed him.

amy walked into the evidence locker. she closed the door behind her.

“hey santiago, whatcha looking for?” jake asked.

“listen peralta.” amy started quickly. “you’re hiding something. and i am going to figure it out. consider yourself warned.” she turned to go, but jake caught her arm.

“amy please. this is a terrible time. i can’t deal with this on top of work and bills and av- amy i just can’t deal with this right now, okay?”

Amy squinted at him. “what were you going to say?”

jake glared at amy. “since when did you start to care about my personal life santiago? and really, is it any of your buisnes?”

jake stormed out of rhe evidence locker, leavjng behind whatever he had entered for, and amy stood there, stunned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos if you liked this so I know to keep writing and drop a suggestion in the comments section, chances are ill do it!


	3. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake worries everyone at the precinct, and then finally opens up to Amy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I just checked and it turns out I have some kudos! I'm sorry these chapters are so short I just started school. I'm actually about to take a quiz in like 10 mins. Anyway, I'm actually using capitals now so that's good, and I forgot to mention this same story is on Fanfiction.net under the same username so feel free to check that out! :)

Jake wasn't really mad at Amy. It was just that he hated having his privacy breached. Not to mention that Ava’s donor kidney was suddenly not viable, so now the hospital was scrambling to find a new one, and in the meantime, Ava had to stay on dialysis at the hospital. So Jake wasn't really mad at Amy, he was overwhelmed. But it didn't mean he had to be friendly.

When Jake walked into the precinct, he was obviously disheveled. His hair was messy, he looked like he hadn't showered in days. All of these weren't really that odd for Jake, but coupled with his sullen attitude, the squad was definitely worried. The reason Jake was so out of it was because he had stayed the night at the hospital with Ava. He had meant to go home late at night, but Ava was upset at even having to be there. Her Dad said that she could go home, but now she was at the hospital. Jake knew it was because she was in kidney failure, but to Ava, it was just a nuisance.

Jake sat down at his desk slowly, wincing slightly. The chair he had slept in at the hospital was not comfortable.

”Good morning Peralta.” said Amy. Jake didn't look up. Amy frowned.

Jake spent most of the day pretending to work, while also researching Ava’s condition. Jake knew she didn't have very long without the transplant. At one point, Terry walked over to Jake's desk and saw Jake search ”kidney donors”

”Jake, do you need a kidney?”

Jake panicked and closed the tab quickly ”what? Of course not. I was just doing.. Research!” It was a terrible excuse, but sarge left him alone. Amy watched the entire interaction from her desk.

Soon, it was time for everyone to go home. Usually Jake stayed late to work on a case, but today he left as soon as it was five o'clock. Amy caught up to him in the parking lot.

”Hey! Jake listen for a minute. I'm really sorry about yesterday. It wasn't any of my business, and I shouldn't have pried.”

Jake sighed ”Honestly I'm really not that mad at you. I do stuff like this all the time. Things have just been hard lately.”

”Oh. Well, if you need anyone to talk to, then I'm always available.”

”Talking to someone actually might be good right now. But if I tell you something, you can't tell anyone else... Okay?”

Amy nodded. ”of course.”

Jake nodded towards his car. ”come on. I'll explain on the way.”

Amy got in and they started driving. ”Okay.” Jake sighed and began to explain. “when i joined the nine-nine i was dating someone. we were pretty serious.” Amy's face dropped. ”anyways, after a couple of months, she got pregnant. It was an accident, but we decided to keep it anyway. Valerie, the woman I was dating, she died during childbirth. She had an underlying heart condition. So basically, I have a kid. Her name is Ava, she's the girl you saw at the ice cream store.” Amy tried to process all of this new information. ”you remember when I took all of my vacation days at the same time a couple years ago?” Amy nodded. ”I didn't want to tell anyone at the precinct because I didn't need anybody’s pity.”

”Jake oh my God, why didn't you say anything? We could have helped!”

”It wasn't that big of a deal back then. I didn't want to be left off of cases because I had a kid. Remember what happened to Terry?”

Amy nodded and looked around. ”wait. Where are we?”

Jake smiled at her. “you want to meet ava, right?


	4. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake takes Amy to meet Ava, and drives her home after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yaaay you guys we have peraltiago content finally! So sorry if this chapter is cheesy, I'm in the mood for some fluff. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do next, but the next chapter will be out tomorrow!

”you want to meet ava, right?” Jake said, parking the car and getting out with Amy. Amy nodded and found she was slightly nervous. She was still processing all of this new information.

”Jake, why are we at the hospital? I thought we were going to meet Ava?”

Jake sighed. ”we are.” and with that, they walked into the hospital through the double doors. They walked through the reception area and down a long corridor of closed hospital doors. Then they got to a door with the name Ava Peralta written on a paper in the name slot. Amy was hit by a wave of realization. Jake turned around at the door.

”Ava might be a little grumpy. She’s used to being here but she still detests it.”

Amy frowned at this, wondering why Ava was here. When they entered the room, the little girl immediately looked up from her puzzle.

”daddy!” She shrieked happily when she saw Jake.

”Hi sweetie! How are you?” Jake said, giving Ava a little hug, which was hard because she was in bed. She had a couple tubes running from her arm and under her hospital gown.

”boreddddd” ava said loudly. Jake chuckled at this.

”I brought a visitor! This is Amy from daddy's work.”

”I know Amy!” Said Ava. ”she’s the one from the stories!”

Jake blushed and looked at Amy. Jake and Amy hung out in Ava’s hospital room. Ava was definitely Jake's kid. She loved movies and the ninja turtles, and their personalities we're also very alike. After about an hour, Jake offered to rice Amy home. Amy agreed.

Amy pointed out her doorstep and Jake walked her up the stoop. But instead of going inside, she turned around to face Jake.

”I don't mean to pry, but why is Ava in the hospital?”

Jake sighed and said ”She needs a kidney transplant. She's on dialysis until the hospital can find one..”

Amy’s face fell. ”Is it serious?”

”Yeah. It is. We need one within the next couple weeks.”

” I can't believe what you've been going through this whole time. We all thought you were immature and a man-child. But this entire time you were just covering up. That can't have been easy.”

”It wasn't.” Jake said simply, averting his eyes to the ground.

Amy saw Jake's movements and was at a loss for words.

”Jake...” Amy said quietly, And Jake tipped her head up and suddenly they were making out, on her doorstep, and he tasted like vanilla and she could feel him smiling under the kiss.

Suddenly, she pulled away. ”Inside?” she whispered carefully. Jake smiled

”Inside.” he confirmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I hope y'all liked that chapter, because our next one is a big one! This is also posted on my Fanfiction.net but literally nobody read it.


	5. Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy leaves Jake very confused after their night together, and doesn't seem to want to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!SHORT CHAPTER ALERT!!!  
>  im so sorry for he short chaper today, i had an art project due and it took me forever. i really love the texting format so i might do that in later chapters :)

Jake and Amy lay together facing each other.

“what does this mean? Amy whispered not wanting to break the silence.

“I don’t know.” jake replied. ”do we have to put a label on it? Can't we just...” He trailed off, starting into Amy's eyes.

Amy suddenly sat up. You should go home”

”oh... Okay, I guess, if that's what you want.”

Amy got up and walked to the bathroom without looking back, and a couple seconds later, heard the shower turn on. he found his clothes and his bag, and then he walked out of Amy’s door.

contact: Jake

hey amy can we talk about last night?

contact: ames

what is there to talk about?

contact: Jake

really amy? youre gonna sleep with me and just pretend it didn’t happen?

contact: ames

can we please just forget this happened?

contact: Jake

what, the part where i told you about my daughter, or the part where you slept with me and then kicked me out?

contact: ames

all of it jake.

(read 3:27 PM)

The next Monday, for the first time Amy could remember, Jake was at work before Amy. He was at his desk, filling out the arrest paperwork for a drug dealer he had just arrested. On Monday morning. Before she had even gotten there. Jake looked up at her and froze for a couple of seconds and then looked down again

Tuesday afternoon, Jake walked.over to Gina’s desk.

”can I talk to you outside?’’ he asked quietly, and Gina followed him outside.

”There's something I need to tell you”, he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, sorry for the insanely short chapter. i love all of the thirty ish of you who left kudos and your praise really motivates me to write :)


	6. Differently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake opens up to Gina, and them gets a surprising phone call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy y'all I hope you like this chapter, next one is the one we've been waiting for (feel like I say that every chapter oops)

“there’s something I need to tell you” said Jake, averting his gaze from Gina’s. ”You remember that girl Valerie I was dating when I came to the Nine-Nine?” gina nodded. ”wellimaybehadakidwithherandididnttellyou.”

”what?!” Gina asked, thoroughly confused. ”you have a kid? Jake, this isn't funny. You should go back to more spectacular pranks. This is what an amateur would do.”

Jake looked at Gina’s feet and stayed silent.

”Wait, Jake are you serious?”

”maybe.”

”why didn't you tell me? Or the rest of the nine-nine?”

”i didn't want to be treated differently.”

”so every time you came in late, every time you went home early, every time you said you were going to watch die hard at home instead of going out with us, you were just covering up for the fact that you have a kid?”

”im so sorry.” said Jake, tearing up a bit. “there were so many times I wanted to tell you but...”

”Oh Jakey... It's fine, really. You did what was best for you. I respect that. And I respect the hell out of being a single parent.”

”you mean you aren't mad?”

”oh no, I definitely am, but I'll get over it. I just want to be auntie Gina.”

Jake chuckled. ”done.”

”are you going to tell the nine-nine?”

”I've thought about it, and I'll tell them after Ava gets her kidney transplant. Once she can come in and say hello in person.”

”Okay Jake, that sounds good. Let's go back inside, it's so cold.”

Jake nodded and they headed in. As soon as he sat down, he heard his text notification. He looked down at his phone to see a text from Amy. For the past three days he had been waiting for this text, but now that it was here he didn't want to open it. It was Amy’s day off, so he hadn't seen her all day. Now all that calm was shattered with a little text. His stomach did backflips as he opened it.

contact: amy

Hey, I feel weird about Friday. Can we

talk?

(read 11:57)

INCOMING CALL:

BROOKLYN PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL

Jake was about to close his phone when the call came in. He picked up on the first ring.

”Hello? Yeah this is him. Yeah. Really? Oh my God, really? Yes, yes I'll be there in twenty minutes.. Yeah, you too.” Rosa and Terry looked up as Jake gathered his phone, car keys and wallet hastily. He walked into Holt’s office.

”Hi cap’n, can I head out on a personal emergency?

”what is the meaning of all these emergencies, Peralta? Anything I should know about?

”hopefully soon, Captain, hopefully soon..” he walked out, and then doubled back. ”was that mysterious? It felt mysterious.” upon seeing the capitan’s unamused face Jake said ”okay, imma just go.”

Jake ran out of the precinct faster than he ever had, and drove the speed limit to the hospital. As he drove, he thought ”my daughter is getting a kidney.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like this chapter, and thank you all for the kudos!  
> :)


	7. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake receives a phone call, and Amy tries to contact Jake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay you guys, the last chapter is here! thank you all for sticking with me through this process, i had a lot of fun :)

Jake ran out of the precinct faster than he ever had, and drove the speed limit to the hospital. As he drove, he thought ”my daughter is getting a kidney.”

As soon as he arrived at the hospital he rushed past the reception desk, and down three hallways and into Ava’s room. He opened the door to see a nurse fiddling with Ava’s IV tube.

“hi daddy!” said Ava, happy at her father's arrival. ”nurse Becca said I get a kidney!”

”I know, honey, how exiting is that?”

Ava just beamed at her dad. The nurse looked up from the IV.

”Nothing but water until tomorrow, and she should really have you here tonight. I can get a cot it you like.”

”Yeah, uh of course.” Jake sat down on the chair next to Ava’s bed and quickly sent an email to Holt to tell him he wouldn't be coming in the next day. Then he saw the text he had received earlier from Amy had a follow-up.

11:57 AM

Contact: amy

Hey, I feel weird about Friday. Can we Talk?

12:26 PM

Jake, is everything okay? Charles asked if I knew why you left the precinct?

Contact: Jake

everythings fine

Contact: amy

What happened?

(read 12:28)

Jake looked up from his phone and saw that Ava had dozed off, and soon he did the same.

”Jake. Jake!”

”what? What happened?”

”hi... Sorry I came, I just thought this was where-”

”shhhh” Jake muttered, still a bit groggy. He pointed to a sleeping Ava and then the door. Amy nodded.

Once they were outside, Jake close the door and turned around to face Amy. ”What are you going here?”

” I was worried.”

”why? Whatever we had going on, you ended it.”

”Jake, I'm... The reason I did that was because I'm scared of commitment. And I was just a little freaked out at first, but now that I know what I want. It's... You.”

Jake was a little tongue-tied, and for a few seconds he was silent. ”amy, we can take things slow, if you want. That's not a problem for me.”

Amy smiled and gave Jake a peck on the cheek.

”That would be awesome. Thank you so much, Jake.”

Jake beamed.

xxx

Eleven days later, the elevator bell dinged and Jake walked out with a little girl clutching his hand. Everyone looked up, and most responded to this with confusion, except Gina who gave him a little thumbs up, and Amy, who gave him a warm smile.

”hey guys! I’d like you to meet someone. This is Ava, my daughter.”

Charles immediately passed out.

”wait, are you serious?” said Terry, a little incredulous

”yeah. Ava, say hi!

Boyle seemed to be better now, and he go up off the floor.

”wait.” said rosa. ”who else knew?”

”Amy and Gina. I told them last week.”

Terry looked offended. ”why Santiago?”

Jake hesitated. ”its because... we're dating.”

Charles passed out again. Bu the time he came to, Ava was talking to the rest of the Nine-Nine and Jake was watching, obviously proud. Amy slipped under his arm, and seeing Ava with his friends, he realized telling his work family about his real family was the right call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand thats a wrap folx. Thank you so much for reading You Have Me, and please check out my oneshot requests, also on my page. love you all! -el

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! i’ll try and update this story daily because i’m in love with this prompt. please leave kudos if you liked it, and feel free to add suggestions in the comments! :))


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